1. ID Tracker States: An Internet Draft’s Path Through the IESG
Thomas Narten
Atlanta IETF

2. Introduction “ID Tracker” tool shows state of IDs on IESG's plate
Under development for more than a year
Under general use by IESG 6 +/- months
Still under development/refinement

3. Primary Benefits Keeps track of all IDs on IESG’s plate
Public view of each document's state (and history)
Clearly identify who has action token for next steps
Reduce confusion about an ID's actual status
Public access to any IESG comments
Reduce possibility of “losing” documents (as has sometimes happened in the past…)

4. Work-Flow Model of ID Processing
All documents travel along well-defined path through system
Path reflected as state machine; each state:
Indicates what the next step is
Who has the action
What events move document to another state

5. ID States Within ID tracker, documents are:
Always in exactly one state
May also be in a sub state (providing more detail)
May include a “note” field with additional explanation

6. Where IDs Start WG documents, individual submissions, etc.
In one of two states:
ID Exists - means just that
AD is Watching - document is in ID Tracker for easy tracking by AD

7. State: Publication Requested
Via formal request from WG (via Section 7.5 of RFC 2418, plus cc
Via a submission directly to RFC editor
Via a direct request to an AD
Additional details:
Need to assign a shepherding AD
Need to assign to an area
no action has been taken by AD yet

8. State: AD Evaluation AD has begun review process:
Is intended status right? (Info? Experimental? Proposed Standard? BCP?)
Is Last Call needed?
Is expert review needed? (e.g., MIB doctor, security, etc.)
ID Nits taken care of?
Has AD convinced herself that document is ready for next step?

9. State: Expert Review AD may ask someone else to review
Perhaps needs review from particular angle
Operational impacts?
Security?
Something else?
Comments from review may result in:
Additional discussion with WG/authors
Need for revision

10. State: Last Call Requested
Last Call is required for Standards Track or BCP documents
MAY be requested if broad review/notice is needed
AD makes formal request when document is really ready

11. State: In Last Call Last Call has actually started
Last Call message has been sent to ietf-announce
Now just waiting for LC to end

12. State: Waiting For Writeup
Protocol Actions include explanation of action
Sent out if/when document is approved
Written up by AD for rest of IESG to read as part of the (soon-to-happen) full IESG review

13. State: Waiting for AD Go-Ahead
Comments/issues may arise during Last Call
Additional discussion may be needed (or still be on going)
Revision of document may be needed
AD needs to ensure document really is ready for formal consideration by entire IESG
When ready, AD requests document be put on IESG agenda for full IESG review

14. State: IESG Evaluation
The entire IESG is (finally!) reviewing the document
Each AD reviews and brings up any issues
For standards track, a formal Evaluation records issues and ensures each AD has expressed an opinion

15. State: Defer An AD wanted more time to review
Invoked no more than once, the first time a document appears on agenda

16. Document Approved States
State: Approved - Announcement to be Sent
IESG has approved the document
Secretariat needs to send out the announcement
State: RFC Ed Queue
document is recorded in queue at
State: RFC Published
RFC has been published!

17. Do Not Published States
State: DNP - Waiting for AD Note
Sometimes, IESG concludes that a document just shouldn't be published
Pretty rare in practice
More often, we say “document has the following problems, not suitable to be published in current form”.
Reason for DNP needs to be written up
State: DNP - Announcement to be Sent
DNP note has been written up
State DNP – Announcement Sent
Note has been sent to author

18. Sub States
For some states, state itself is too coarse to really describe state sufficiently
Sub state provides finer grain of explanation
Similar sub states apply to many states, e.g.:
IESG Evaluation
AD Evaluation

19. Sub-State: Point Raised -Writeup Needed
One or more ADs has an issue
Point needs to be written up
Decision to formally raise a “discuss” often made only after voice telechat discussion
Writeup produced shortly after telechat

20. Sub-State: AD Follow up
AD holds token for determining next steps, but next steps are unclear
May be discussing issues within WG
May need to ascertain whether WG/author response addresses concern or question
May need to get feedback from another AD
Lots of different possible reasons why actual state is unclear

21. Sub-State: Revised ID Needed
Determination has been made that revised ID is needed

22. Sub-State: External Party
Review or followup from External party needed (i.e., someone other than Author or AD)
See “note” field for more details